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Fort Wayne Fusion
| Steamwheelers hang on against Fort Wayne, 56-55 |
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 Courtesy: arenafootball2
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The Quad City Steamwheelers
(10-6) started the weekend early at the i wireless Center in front of 3,758 with an exciting 56-55 victory over the Fort Wayne
Fusion (5-11) on Thursday night.
With the victory the Steamwheelers
can still win the Midwest Division if the Green Bay Blizzard falls at Mahoning Valley
on Saturday, July 28.
The contest was a back and
forth affair that saw the Fusion tie the game at 49 with just over three minutes remaining thanks to an eight-yard pass from
quarterback Blayne Baggett to Cesare Manning, who had a game-high 181-yards, for his fourth touchdown of the night. The Steamwheelers
orchestrated a five play, 46-yard drive that culminated with a Jeff Macrea eight-yard run with 52 seconds remaining to give
Quad City
a seven point lead. The Fusion scored with only seven seconds remaining on a 14-yard run by Baggett and decided to go for
the win, however, the two-point conversion failed. Fort Wayne
recovered the on-side kick, but the ball did not travel 10 yards and the Steamwheelers were able to run down the clock to
hang on for the 56-55 victory.
Wide Receiver Kris Peters
dominated the first half for the ‘Wheelers scoring three of the five touchdowns including back-to-back touchdowns in
the second quarter to help the Quad City
jump out to a 34-21 lead. The Fusion scored twice in a roll, thanks to an on-side kick recovery to close the quarter and take
a 35-34 lead into the locker room.
This was only the second
time this season Quad City
has trailed at home at the half and they had struggled at points in the season during the third quarter. However, the team
dominated the third frame scoring on a J.J. Raterink one-yard run and a 27-yard Kimo Naehu field goal. The defense allowed
Fort Wayne to tally only one first down and 22 total yards to give Quad City a 43-35 lead heading into the final
15 minutes.
Raterink threw for a season-high
334 yards while registering six touchdowns on 34 completions. His favorite target was Jack Walker Jr., who also had a season-high
145 yards in addition to earning the U.S. Army Ironman of the Game award. Both players broke their previous season-highs which
had been set on June 8 at Fort Wayne. Peters finished with
four touchdowns and 119 yards on 11 catches. Sidney Lewis led the team with 7.5 tackles, seven of which were solo, while Lavar
Stepter and Andy Endemann each recovered a fumble.
For the Fusion, Baggett
threw 292 yards and four touchdowns on 21 completions, while rushing for two. Manning led the receiving corps with 181 yards
and four touchdowns on 10 catches, while Derek Brown rushed for two touchdowns. On defense Derrick Simmons and Morris Virgil
each had a game-high eight solo tackles.
The Steamwheelers will have
to wait until Saturday night to find out if they will host a first round playoff game or travel to Manchester.
Team
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
Record
Fort Wayne Fusion
14 21 0
20 55 5-11
Quad City Steamwheelers
20 14 9
13 56 10-6
Schutt Offensive Player
of the Game: J.J. Raterink (QCS)
ADT Defensive Player of
the Game: Sidney Lewis (QCS)
U.S.
Army Ironman of the Game: Jack Walker Jr. (QCS)
Cutter’s Catch of
the Game: Kris Peters - 8:06 1st Qtr – (QCS)
Attendance: 3,758 |
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Wheelers dodge upset, might host first-round playoff gameBy Craig DeVrieze | Friday, July 27, 2007
| Rate this article | Default | Large
Quad-City Steamwheelers receiver Tom Anthony couldn’t figure it out.
So he asked quarterback J.J. Raterink.
“At one point, he said, ‘How can we score on every possession,
the defense stops them (three) times, and we’re still down?” Raterink remembered. “I said, ‘I don’t
know Tom. That’s the way this game goes.’ ”
So it went Thursday at the i wireless Center, where a
Steamwheelers club battling for key playoff position needed to stop a 2-point conversion run by the Fort Wayne Fusion to escape
with a 56-55 victory that might yet book the Q-C crew a home playoff game next week.
The Steamwheelers close the regular
season at 10-6 and will wait for Saturday’s results from Youngstown, Ohio, and Manchester, N.H., to learn their playoff
assignment.
A loss in Youngstown by the Green Bay Blizzard would earn the Wheelers the Midwest Division title and a
home game vs. the No. 6 American Conference seed.
If Green Bay wins, Manchester’s game vs. East Division-leading
Florida will decide who holds the conference’s No. 4 seed and determine whether Wheelers roll to Manchester or stay
home next weekend.
“Now we wait,” Q-C coach Sean Ponder said after his team’s oh-so-close call against
the 5-11 visitors from Fort Wayne.
Jermaine Petty and his fellow Steamwheelers defenders were waiting on Fort Wayne
fullback Derek Brown after Fusion coach and Arena Football League legend Eddie Brown elected to go for the 2-point conversion
and the victory after his club closed within a point with 7 seconds left in the contest.
Why did Brown go for the deuce
after quarterback Blayne Baggett’s 14-yard touchdown scramble?
“I’m 5-10,” he said succinctly.
“We didn’t have nothing to lose. I was going for the win. We’re on the road. They made the play. They won
the game.’ ”
Petty and the Steamwheelers defense were surprised neither by the decision nor the play call.
Brown and the Fusion went for it in a similar end-game situation earlier this month vs. top-ranked Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and
they used the same right-side run by the fullback.
It is a play that had worked, in fact, for a pair of earlier goal-line
touchdown runs in the see-saw game.
“They run nothing but that,’’ said Q-C defensive end Shonn Bell,
who, along with nose guard Kika Kaululaau and linebacker Jeff Macrea flushed Brown back inside toward a waiting Petty. “We
had to (make the play). It would have been tough to let that one slip away.’’
Said Petty: “I just
cleaned it up. I couldn’t let that guy beat me.’’
A Steamwheelers loss in their regular-season home
finale could have been crippling, but stopping the Fusion a yard short changed everything in an instant.
“Obviously,
there is a lot of momentum for us to take into the playoffs,’’ said Ponder, who defiantly and insistently defended
his decision to try for an onsides kick after his team had taken a 34-21 lead with just over a minute to go in the opening
half.
That decision backfired when Fort Wayne got the kick, scored a quick touchdown with the short field and then
recovered its own onsides kick and scored again as the half expired to take a 35-34 lead into the locker room.
That
turn of events negated a pair of first-half Q-C fumble recoveries and helped set up a close game the rest of the way, as well
as the wild second-half finish.
“The onsides kick is the right thing to do,’’ Ponder said of his
decision. “It is an arena football game. Fans are going to say ‘What are you doing?’ But I am looking at
the way you are supposed to play the football game. You are supposed to onsides kick with a minute to go.
“You
can second guess everything,’’ he said. “What we do is we do the right thing.’’
Raterink
did virtually everything right while connecting on 34 of 41 passes for a season-high 334 yards and six touchdowns, four to
Kris Peters.
Peters had 11 catches for 119 yards while Jack Walker Jr. also had season highs with 14 catches for 145
yards.
The one possession the Steamwheelers didn’t score a touchdown on ended with a Kimo Naehu field goal, but
the kicker also missed two extra points.
Meanwhile, the nothing-to-lose Fusion simply refused to roll over and, so,
there they were, with a chance to win at the end.
“I don’t get it,’’ Raterink said of the hard-to-explain
close call. “I don’t understand this game. It’s a fun game, but you have to be ready all the time.’’
Too,
he said, and especially from here through ArenaCup, “You have got to win games like this and you have got to win them
making a play on the last play.’’
Now, they wait.
Craig DeVrieze can be contacted at (563) 333-2610
or cdevrieze@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com
Box Score
Box Score (Final)
Fort Wayne Fusion vs Quad City Steamwheel (Jul 26, 2007 at Moline, IL)
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
Fort Wayne Fusion... 14 21 0 20 - 55 Record: (5-11)
Quad City Steamwheel 20 14 9 13 - 56 Record: (10-6)
Scoring Summary:
1st 12:31 FTW - MANNING, Cesare 24 yd pass from BAGGETT, Blayne (HOOPER, Kyle kick), 3-45 2:29, FTW 7 - QCS 0
08:06 QCS - PETERS, Kris 7 yd pass from RATERINK, J.J. (NAEHU, Kimo kick failed), 6-37 4:14, FTW 7 - QCS 6
04:38 QCS - ANTHONY, Tom 9 yd pass from RATERINK, J.J. (NAEHU, Kimo kick), 2-42 1:56, FTW 7 - QCS 13
02:28 FTW - MANNING, Cesare 19 yd pass from BAGGETT, Blayne (HOOPER, Kyle kick), 2-23 1:42, FTW 14 - QCS 13
00:00 QCS - WALKER Jr., Jac 21 yd pass from RATERINK, J.J. (NAEHU, Kimo kick), 4-37 2:19, FTW 14 - QCS 20
2nd 12:06 FTW - MANNING, Cesare 38 yd pass from BAGGETT, Blayne (HOOPER, Kyle kick), 3-45 0:00, FTW 21 - QCS 20
08:27 QCS - PETERS, Kris 20 yd pass from RATERINK, J.J. (NAEHU, Kimo kick), 5-46 3:24, FTW 21 - QCS 27
01:14 QCS - PETERS, Kris 8 yd pass from RATERINK, J.J. (NAEHU, Kimo kick), 7-46 5:10, FTW 21 - QCS 34
00:56 FTW - BROWN, Derek 2 yd run (HOOPER, Kyle kick), 1-5 0:14, FTW 28 - QCS 34
00:00 FTW - BAGGETT, Blayne 1 yd run (HOOPER, Kyle kick), 4-36 0:53, FTW 35 - QCS 34
3rd 09:14 QCS - RATERINK, J.J. 1 yd run (RATERINK, J.J. pass failed), 8-40 5:46, FTW 35 - QCS 40
00:50 QCS - NAEHU, Kimo 27 yd field goal, 6-21 4:00, FTW 35 - QCS 43
4th 11:29 FTW - BROWN, Derek 3 yd run (HOOPER, Kyle kick), 4-29 4:10, FTW 42 - QCS 43
08:17 QCS - PETERS, Kris 13 yd pass from RATERINK, J.J. (NAEHU, Kimo kick failed), 4-48 3:03, FTW 42 - QCS 49
03:23 FTW - MANNING, Cesare 8 yd pass from BAGGETT, Blayne (HOOPER, Kyle kick), 6-46 4:45, FTW 49 - QCS 49
00:52 QCS - MACREA, Jeff 8 yd run (NAEHU, Kimo kick), 5-46 2:22, FTW 49 - QCS 56
00:07 FTW - BAGGETT, Blayne 14 yd run (BROWN, Derek rush failed), 6-33 0:39, FTW 55 - QCS 56
FTW QCS
FIRST DOWNS................... 19 24
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 10-32 6-16
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 285 334
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 29-21-0 41-34-0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 40-317 47-350
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 7-146 5-61
Interception Returns-Yards.... 0-0 0-0
Fumbles-Lost.................. 3-2 0-0
Penalties-Yards............... 6-30 7-30
Possession Time............... 26:46 33:14
Third-Down Conversions........ 4 of 5 5 of 6
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 1 0 of 0
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 6-9 8-9
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 0-0 1-7
RUSHING: Fort Wayne Fusion-JOHNSONBAUGH, J 3-15; BAGGETT, Blayne 4-12;
BROWN, Derek 3-5. Quad City Steamwheel-MACREA, Jeff 4-12; KERR, Nikolas 1-3;
RATERINK, J.J. 1-1.
PASSING: Fort Wayne Fusion-BAGGETT, Blayne 21-29-0-292; TEAM 0-0-0-minus
7. Quad City Steamwheel-RATERINK, J.J. 34-41-0-334.
RECEIVING: Fort Wayne Fusion-MANNING, Cesare 10-181; JACKSON, Jermai
6-57; PRATCHER, Mario 5-54. Quad City Steamwheel-WALKER Jr., Jac 14-145; PETERS,
Kris 11-119; ANTHONY, Tom 8-63; JAHNKE, Chris 1-7.
INTERCEPTIONS: Fort Wayne Fusion-None. Quad City Steamwheel-None.
FUMBLES: Fort Wayne Fusion-BAGGETT, Blayne 2-1; JOHNSONBAUGH, J 1-1. Quad
City Steamwheel-None.
Stadium: i wireless Center Attendance: 3758
Kickoff time: 7:30 End of Game: 9:58 Total elapsed time: 2:28
Officials: Referee: Tom McCabe; Umpire: Pat Bayers; Linesman: Gus Golembiewsk;
Line judge: Donald Shouse; Back judge: Larry Orrico; Scorer: Dave Beyer;
SCHUTT OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: JJ Raterink (QCS)
ADT DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: Sidney Lewis (QCS)
U.S. ARMY IRONMAN OF THE GAME: Jack Walker, Jr. (QCS)
CUTTERS CATCH: QCS- Raterink-Peters; 8:06 1st quarter
Fort Wayne Fusion vs Quad City Steamwheel (Jul 26, 2007 at Moline, IL)
SACKS (UA-A): Fort Wayne Fusion-None. Quad City Steamwheel-BELL, Shonn
0-1; PETTY, Jermaine 0-1.
TACKLES (UA-A): Fort Wayne Fusion-VIRGIL, Morris 8-0; SIMMONS, Derek 8-0;
WILLIAMS, Natha 7-1; BROWN, Derek 6-0; JACKSON, Tyus 3-2; BERLANGA, Arthu 1-0;
TATE, Darrian 1-0; LINDSAY, A.J. 0-1. Quad City Steamwheel-LEWIS, Sidney 7-1;
DAVIS, Jordan 5-2; ADAMS, Kevin 3-1; NAEHU, Kimo 2-1; BELL, Shonn 1-3; STEPTER,
Lavar 1-2; MACREA, Jeff 1-0; KAULULAAU, Kika 1-0; PETTY, Jermaine 0-2; ENDEMANN,
Andy 0-1; FALEOFA, Hausia 0-1.
Game Starters:
Fort Wayne Fusion
POS ## OFFENSE
QB 15 BAGGETT, Blayne
WR 11 JACKSON, Jermai
WR 25 MANNING, Cesare
WR 17 PRATCHER, Mario
FB 30 JOHNSONBAUGH, J
OL 79 DEGG, Randy
OL 65 BLACK, Lenard
OL 72 SANTOS, Stephen
POS ## DEFENSE
DB 1 SIMMONS, Derek
DB 3 WILLIAMS, Natha
DB 14 14
LB 21 21
LB 9 JACKSON, Tyus
DL 91 TATE, Darrian
DL 33 WEST, Ken
DL 88 88
Quad City Steamwheel
POS ## OFFENSE
QB 11 RATERINK, J.J.
WR 6 PETERS, Kris
WR 28 ANTHONY, Tom
WR 24 WALKER Jr., Jac
FB 16 KERR, Nikolas
TE 72 JAHNKE, Chris
C 91 MISIPEKA, Trevo
G 60 ENDEMANN, Andy
POS ## DEFENSE
DB 1 LEWIS, Sidney
DB 4 ADAMS, Kevin
DB 9 DAVIS, Jordan
LB 3 MACREA, Jeff
LB 5 STEPTER, Lavar
DT 12 BELL, Shonn
NG 78 KAULULAAU, Kika
DT 40 PETTY, Jermaine
Player participation:
Fort Wayne Fusion: 4-BERLANGA, Arthu, 6-HOOPER, Kyle, 12-BROWN, Derek, 28-VIRGIL, Morris, 77-LINDSAY, A.J..
Quad City Steamwheel: 8-NAEHU, Kimo, 32-FALEOFA, Hausia.
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